Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 10,562 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 23.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,562 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 1.7 %

USB stock opened at $50.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.79 and a 200-day moving average of $43.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $36.21 and a one year high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments.